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Maruti domestic sales rise 2.2% in October
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Mumbai: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd’s domestic sales rose 2.2% to 123,764 units over a year-ago period, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
It exported 13,146 units in October 2015, up 90% over the year-ago period. It fell 26.6% to 7,676 units in September.
The muted growth came on the back of a 9.8% decline in the entry-level models of Wagon R and Alto. Even sales of compact car models which account for close to half of total passenger vehicles sales for the company, dropped marginally by 1.8% to 50,116 units over the year-ago period.
Even exports at the local arm of the Japanese car maker fell sharply by 23% to 10,029 units over the year-ago period. Company spokesperson attributed it to the high base of last year. “We have consistently maintained a run rate of 10000 units in exports.” Owing to shipment related issues last September, the billing in October was high hence the decline, she said.
Car sales in India have been advancing at a brisk pace, touching a record high in September ahead of the festive season.
Sales are likely to moderate in the coming months as companies start correcting stock as demand dries up after the festive season.
Companies report despatches to dealers and not end customers.


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updated 12:00 pm EST, Sat January 9, 2010
PowerVR SGX545 handles OpenCL too
Imagination has used its time at CES to unveil a new PowerVR SGX graphics core that is likely to find its way into the next iPhone. The SGX545 is the only mobile phone video chip capable of both OpenGL 3.2 and DirectX 10 level visual effects, including their newer geometry and texturing features. OpenCL support is equally unique: unused processing cycles on the PowerVR chip can be used for general purpose computing and offload work from the main CPU.
Unlike some previous cores, the 545 is aware of multithreading and can see an additional speed boost when mated with multi-core processor designs like the ARM Cortex-A9.
The company doesn't say when it expects mass production but says it has already started licensing the SGX545 to companies and, notably, has already resulted in a test chip for an unnamed "lead partner."
Most expect this partner to be Apple. The electronics designer has used PowerVR graphics in every iPhone and iPod touch to date and has also been one of Imagination's most aggressive licensees, upgrading to the new technology in the iPhone 3GS and third-generation iPod touch almost as soon as it was available. Apple is also commonly assumed to be using a variant of ARM Cortex-A9 to power future handhelds and could see an added benefit by moving to the SGX545.
Apple is one of the key architects behind OpenCL and already uses it in Snow Leopard, whose underpinnings are themselves likely to translate into iPhone OS 4.0.

domain: news


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Piran: As the economy continues to rebound, we expect a renewed interest from companies and institutions to invest in video and security technologies. Certainly, many companies are realizing that the economic justification is there for video and security systems to protect critical assets. Adoption of IP-based technology solutions will accelerate in 2010, fueled in part by advances in investigative functionality.
Taylor: The improving economy certainly suggests that IP video will continue to grow and most likely will exceed 2009 growth rates. In addition to a better market outlook, the benefits of networked video are becoming better known among integrators and especially end-users, whose buying decisions are increasingly influenced by IT professionals inside their organizations. Also paving the way for broader market growth is development of standards by the Open Network Video Interface Forum (ONVIF) and the Physical Security Interoperability Alliance (PSIA). Among other advantages, standardization can help to simplify installation of IP-based systems.
Lazatin: We expect that 2010 growth rates will be similar to 2009. Success in key sectors such as government will depend on how quickly stimulus funds funnel to government-funded projects. If the economic situation persists, opportunities in retail, banking and key segments in the private sectors will continue to be scarce.
Wachman: We expect to see continued migration from analog to IP-based video over the next few years. Further, we expect there will be a growing trend in the number of customers that purchase end-to-end IP solutions to help ensure optimal system interoperability and lower integration costs.
Gorovici: In addition to the economy improving slowly but surely, the launch of new products and innovation shows overall confidence in the market. We have seen availability of more funds made available for security projects, and the landslide of recent security breaches and events all lend itself to a much-improved 2010.
Next Page: The death of analog video?
Have the rumors of the death of analog video been highly exaggerated?
Robinson: Yes, the rumors are a bit exaggerated. At this point in time, we're not going to see the complete death of analog video anytime soon. While IP-based systems are growing in prevalence as viable video options, it's still difficult for many organizations to rationalize and navigate a complete switch from analog to IP given factors such as tight budgets, unsettled industry standards and increased scrutiny on new expenditures. Analog is also still very much a relevant factor in the IP migration equation due to the use of hybrid solutions, which incorporate both IP and analog-based technology. We're seeing a number of companies adopting hybrid strategies and further proving that analog is not dead yet.
Fullerton: We've always known that analog would live on for a long time, like the typewriter continued to live for years after the PC was introduced. It is expected that the technology is a sunset industry, but there are installed bases with cycles that are 12-15 years long that will continue for that reason.
Lazatin: Although there was demonstrable slowdown in sales of analog video in 2009, end-users can realize cost advantages to installing analog based systems. This trend is more prevalent in small- to medium-sized surveillance applications, in segments such as retail, restaurants, houses of worship, etc. The decline of analog video and the growth of IP video will be slower than predicted.
Johnston: While the rate of change from analog to IP video is certainly increasing, 2010 will not be the year that IP sales exceed those of analog systems. Many customers, such as large retailers with thousands of stores, have significant investments in analog technology. The owner of a delicatessen or pizzeria isn't likely to prefer an IP system to an analog system, but it's likely that cost will factor highly in the sale.
Piran: Analog video systems are still alive and will generally remain in place until upgrades are required, but they are facing a slow death. IP-based video systems are the superior technology, although there may continue to be installations for which analog systems are "good enough," and can be integrated onto a networked platform to some degree.


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Courtesy of CNN Money
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — U.S. retail sales rose for the first time in four months in July, an encouraging sign that the economy may have started strengthening in the middle of the summer.
Overall retail sales rose 0.8% in the month, according to a Commerce Department report released Tuesday. The increase was well above economists’ expectations for growth of 0.2%.
But now that July has brought stronger data on both consumer spending and hiring, it seems less likely that the Fed will announce any new stimulus plans at its next meeting in September.
“The retail sales data suggest that the U.S. economy fared surprisingly well in the face of ongoing uncertainty and renewed contraction in the Eurozone, and argues against the need for additional stimulus from the Fed,” Chris Williamson, chief economist for Markit, said in a note to clients.
He cautioned against getting too excited about the stronger data though. It’s just one month of data, and the retail sales numbers can be volatile from month to month.
Should improvement continue over the coming months, it could give a much-needed boost to the job market and gross domestic product. Consumer spending alone makes up roughly two-thirds of the U.S. economy.
In July, the gains were broad based, with every major industry reporting stronger sales.
Furniture sales rose 1.1% in July and spending on building materials and garden supplies rose 1%, adding to other signs of a gradual housing recovery.


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The Stanislaus County Fairgrounds will be flowing with wine and cheese on Thursday as the 11th annual Tastes of the Valley is held to help benefit students in the Agricultural Studies program at California State University, Stanislaus.
With only local selections of wine and cheese, the event is expected to draw in hundreds who are interested in tasting some of the products made in the Central Valley.
“The event just gets bigger every year,” said Melanie Myers, administrative coordinator at CSU Stanislaus. “Our valley is number one in the world for milk, cheese and ag production, which has a huge impact on the rest of the world. This event is kind of our way of embracing that, and celebrating it.”
The evening will include local wine and cheese samples, small plates, a silent auction, and a selection of local vendors.
“Not only is the wine and cheese local, but all of the restaurants and vendors that will be there as well,” said Myers. “I’m a sixth generation Turlocker, and it’s just neat to see how things have progressed here.”
Funds from the event help provide scholarships for the Agricultural Studies program at CSU Stanislaus, which currently serves approximately 90 students. Students from the program will be at the event, helping serve the various selections of wine and cheese available.
“This event also has a lot to do with the help of the alumni giving back to the program,” said Myers. “A lot of times they’ll either get sponsorships for the event, or donate prizes for the raffle. It’s definitely a way for them to give back to the program they came from; so it’s a beautiful thing.”
While the event is in its 11th year, this is the second year it has been hosted at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds after the CSU Stanislaus Ag Studies program created a partnership with the Friends of the Fair Foundation.
“We’ll be out there all week decorating; it’s going to be huge,” said Myers. “We always look forward to it.”
The Tastes of the Valley Wine and Cheese Tasting will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Oct.3 at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds located at 900 N. Broadway in the E2 building. Tickets are $35 per person and can be purchased by calling the fairgrounds at 668-1333.


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A new, still unannounced Samsung smartphone has been caught at a retail listing in Vietnam, revealing that the company is working on yet another device in its Galaxy range.
The upcoming Galaxy V doesn’t have anything to do with fictional Samsung Apex. Instead, it’s an entry-level smartphone made for the world’s emerging markets with specs that include a 4-inch 480 x 854 pixels screen, 512MB of RAM, unspecified 1.2GHz processor and 3-megapixel camera on the back. There’s also 4GB of internal memory that can be expanded with microSD cards, Wi-Fi and 3G Bluetooth connectivity, Bluetooth 4.0, two SIM card slots and a 1,500 mAh battery, while Android 4.4.2 KitKat is running the show. Size wise, the V measures 121.2×62.7×10.65 mm.
Finally, the price – according to GSMarena, Samsung will ask $108 for the unlocked device, which seems kinda steep if you ask me… And you don’t. 😉


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Britain’s Queen Elizabeth told Scottish lawmakers on Saturday that staying calm in a fast-changing world can be difficult. Speaking as she formally opened the fifth session of Scotland’s devolved Parliament,
Paris : France's data protection agency on Thursday fined Google 100,000 euros ($112,000) for only partially honouring requests by individuals to have information about them removed from its search engines.
Major commercial stores in the Kingdom have removed products linked to US businessman-turned-politician Donald Trump for seeking a ban on Muslims entering the US. The shops are Centrepoint, Home Centre,


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When you’re putting your rig to the test with the latest triple-A release, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on how your components are faring. There’s a few ways to do that: you can hit up Task Manager, or install a third party app like Nvidia GeForce Experience. Now, you’re even more spoilt for choice, with Microsoft adding some useful widgets to Windows 11 to do just that.
Windows 11 hasn’t all been smooth sailing for PC gamers, and that’sputting it lightly. The plucky cybernauts who’ve migrated to Microsoft’s latest OS have endured a Windows 11 update which froze AMD CPUs and a Windows 11 22H2 update causing bad GPU performance. Not cool, Microsoft.
But the software giant is keen to make it up to gamers,and Dev Home has helped it do just that. The new open source developer app has brought a swathe of new widgets to Windows 11, including some nifty ones that report your CPU’s speed and utilization, and your GPU’s speed and temperature. Don’t want your shiny new rig overheating, after all! And, if you happen to be lucky enough to own multiple GPUs, there’s a widgetallowing you to toggle between different graphics cards at will.
Of course, you’ll have to downloadthe Dev Home Preview app from theMicrosoft Store if you want to make use of these widgets. And they do come with a caveat: since Dev Home is only at the preview stage, the widgets are unstable and could become unresponsive or even disappear from the board entirely.
With Microsoft intent on bringing gamers into the Windows 11 fold, and introducing new features to sweeten the deal, more and more of us are probably giving the upgrade serious consideration. Maybe now’s a good time to get ahead of the curve andgrab a key.


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Dubai has always been in the priority list of the fashion world, but now the metropolitan city is getting it’s own collaboration with adidas.
Not just Dubai, adidas Originals is specifically pairing with local Pakistani restaurant in Dubai, Ravi.
This big collaboration and the launch of the SUPERSTAR RAVI trainers, is part of adidas’ collaborative project to be initiated with eleven small and local restaurants in eleven different cities around the world, in recognition of the community spirit created in and around local restaurants.
Ravi restaurant is located in Al Satwa, Dubai, which is much-loved by both expats and locals, serving up tasty and traditional Pakistani cuisine.
“My family has been working really hard to bring Ravi to where it is now, it has become more than just a restaurant, and has become a home that many grew up with. To say that Ravi had a humble beginning and is now representing Dubai as a focus city with adidas is a milestone to celebrate”.Founder and owner of Ravi – Chaudary Abdul Hameed
Ravi’s unique input on the adidas Original SUPERSTAR sneaker includes as custom liner with a hand-drawn map showcasing the river (Ravi) which flows through north-eastern Pakistan.
Moreover, these unique and limited edition trainers will go on sale on June 23 via the adidas website, and will cost Dhs549.


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A not-for-profit pushing for sustainability in packaging says significant work from a range of organisations is still required in order for Australia to meet the 2025 National Packaging Targets.
The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) established the national targets in 2018.
They include implementing 100 per cent reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging, seeing 70pc of plastic packaging being recycled or composted, a 50pc average recycled content included in packaging, and phasing out problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging.
The 2025 targets have been endorsed by all governments.
APCO chief executive Brooke Donnelly said the latest report, released in December, revealed improvements in some areas, such as a 6pc reduction in the volume of plastic on the market.
Ms Donnelly said while 89pc of packaging on the market was now recyclable, it was important to look at how much was actually being recycled.
She said recovery rates were strong for some materials, including paper and metal, but plastic remained a challenge.
"While the recovery for plastics has increased, from 16pc to 18pc, it is clear significant progress is still required to meet the 2025 target of a 70pc recovery rate," she said.
She said many businesses were on track to phase out single use plastics and the federal government had highlighted the 2025 targets in its new National Plastics Plan, which was published last month, but significant work was still required to meet the targets by 2025.
Ms Donelly said there had been a lot of debate on whether the pandemic would have a long term impact on packaging sustainability in Australia.
"In the short term there have certainly been consequences," she said.
"Under lockdown many consumers faced a greater reliance on single-use products, while greater restrictions emerged around reusable packaging formats, most notably coffee cups.
"For the recycling industry, lockdown conditions also meant added stress to the kerbside system.
"In May 2020 ACOR reported a 10pc growth in householder kerbside recycling, as well as unprecedented levels of contamination in some locations, especially from soft plastics."
Many restaurants and other businesses in the food industry were also required to use takeaway packages for the first time, she said.
Even so, progress had continued towards meeting the targets.
"Waste - the process of creating and then sending something to landfill - is fundamentally a business inefficiency," she said.
"For many businesses, improving operational efficiencies by reducing their waste has enabled them to cut costs and better navigate this challenging time."


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Lily Smith, Afton Lin, Sage Morgan, Courtney Lillard and Vy Nguyen were recently recognized for their outstanding artwork by High Tech Solutions.
The Lee’s Summit High School art students’ holiday card designs were selected by the company and will be sent to their customers throughout the world.
The students made individual presentations to Dan Phillips, company president, and his staff, explaining their inspirations and research for the cards. The company donated $500 to the LSHS National Art Honor Society. The funding will help sponsor the Lee’s Summit Art Olympics.
A number of art students from LSHS also toured High Tech Solutions on Nov. 21 as part of the project.


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On October 28, 2021, Facebook announced the rebranding of its parent company from Facebook to Meta. Since then, the term “metaverse” has been a hot topic of discussion.
From facial expressions to biometric data, the metaverse has the potential to collect new and vast amounts of personal information, allowing Meta to target participants with even more personalized ads. With the metaverse, Meta’s ad-based business model poses an even greater threat to online privacy.
What is the metaverse?
While Meta may have repopularized the term, the concept of a metaverse has long existed in the pages of sci-fi novels. Author Neal Stephenson first coined the term in 1992 in his book Snow Crash, where he sketched out a virtual world his characters could escape to as means of avoiding their dystopian reality.
According to Stephenson, the metaverse refers to a “convergence of physical, augmented, and virtual reality in a shared online space”, allowing people to interact with others through 3D avatars.
Will there be only one metaverse?
Since Snow Crash’s publication, various developments have been made toward a real metaverse. Games like Fortnite and Roblox already provide an immersive environment where you can socialize with other people beyond a simple computer screen.
However, by using technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), Meta wants to go a step further and make the metaverse a reality. VR refers to technologies that replace a real-life environment with a virtual one, whereas AR augments your surroundings by adding digital elements to a live view.
Meta’s vision of the metaverse consists of social hubs where you can connect, work, play, and shop using a digital avatar, but it isn’t the only one trying to build a 3D virtual reality space.
In fact, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Epic Games are all developing their own versions of the metaverse. At the end of 2021, Microsoft announced Mesh(new window), a collaborative platform that uses mixed reality technologies to make online meetings more personal and engaging. Nvidia markets its Omniverse(new window) as a “development platform for 3D simulation and design collaboration”.
As VR and AR technologies advance, more and more tech giants will focus on building metaverse platforms.
The privacy risks of the metaverse
Compared to traditional social media platforms, the metaverse could create even more avenues for data collection. The technologies underpinning the metaverse — VR headsets and augmented reality glasses — can track eye movement and determine what the participant is focusing on.
It can pick up physiological responses and biometric information such as heart rate, pupil dilation, and vocal inflections, revealing subconscious interests and preferences. Heart monitors can also pick up neural or heart problems even before the participant feels symptoms. The US Patent and Trademark Office has already approved some eye- and face-tracking technology patents(new window) for use in the metaverse.
This depth of information would allow Meta to build eerily intimate profiles of participants, alerting them to inclinations or health problems that people themselves aren’t aware of. This could present new avenues for Meta to manipulate the participants in the metaverse without their consent.
According to Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen(new window), as the metaverse expands, participants will have to install cameras and microphones throughout their homes to generate fully interactive experiences. These cameras would capture everything from the appearance and layout of a participant’s home to the minute details of their daily routines.
With such a setup, Meta would have real-time insight into people’s everyday lives, giving them unprecedented amounts of data they can collect and use for nefarious purposes. As Meta’s losses in the metaverse continue to grow(new window), the company has a greater incentive to extend their existing privacy-invasive business model to the metaverse to make a profit for its shareholders.
Can Meta be trusted to build the metaverse?
Given that the metaverse enables unprecedented levels of data collection, a critical question remains: Who should be trusted to build it?
Meta is no stranger to controversy when it comes to data privacy. The company has been involved in several major data breaches in the past:
- In April 2021, the personal data of over 530 million Facebook users was leaked(new window) in an online hacking forum. Facebook resolved the vulnerability but failed to notify the people whose data had been scraped.
- In March 2018, former Cambridge Analytica employee Christopher Wylie revealed that the data of over 50 million Facebook profiles was harvested(new window) for political advertising, influencing the outcome of the 2016 United States Presidential Election.
- In July 2013, a bug on Facebook exposed the personal information of 6 million users(new window) — including their phone numbers and email addresses — to unauthorized parties for over a year.
Meta has had a long history of failing to protect people and their privacy on its platform. But it has proven to be an even worse moderator of its own social media platform. While Facebook claims to remove more than 90% of hate speech published on its site, the actual figure is only 3 to 5%(new window).
In March 2022, London-based watchdog Global Witness tested Facebook’s hate speech safeguards(new window) by submitting eight paid ads to the social media network, each incorporating different versions of real-world hate speech copied from a United Nations report. All eight ads were approved, proving Facebook’s poor ability to detect hateful speech in the Burmese language. As a result, Facebook has been investigated over its role in the genocide of Rohingya Muslims(new window).
It has also repeatedly allowed world leaders and politicians across 25 countries to use its platform to deceive the public or harass opponents(new window).
In fact, Meta itself can’t even keep track of the data it already has. According to a leaked internal document, Facebook’s own engineers have no idea where all of its user data goes(new window), or what it’s doing with it.
Given its record of data breaches and privacy violations, we should not trust Meta to build the metaverse.
What would a metaverse that respected privacy look like?
The real promise of the metaverse lies in its new data-rich experiences and services that can enhance our lives. However, for it to be successful, the metaverse should embody some core principles to ensure your safety and privacy.
For one, the metaverse should be open and interoperable to prevent the creation of walled gardens. This interoperability is crucial in connecting people and providing them with a unified and seamless experience. An open metaverse would also mean people are not locked in on a single platform and can easily transfer their digital assets from one service to another.
What makes the metaverse potentially harmful is that a handful of powerful corporations will have the ability to mediate every aspect of our lives, selling access to our personal data to the highest bidder. However, decentralizing the metaverse would mean that no single entity “owns” or has the power to sell our information. A decentralized metaverse would enable us to enjoy a new world of possibilities where we are fully in control of our virtual experiences.
Switching from an ad-based model to a subscription model
The metaverse should offer an unparalleled user experience by breaking away from Big Tech’s traditional ad-based business model. Rather than operating as a service designed to extract data and monetize people’s lives, the metaverse should utilize a subscription model to avoid ads and maintain user privacy.
Consent to data collection and marketing
If an ad-supported metaverse must exist, then all data collection should require the consent of participants. With the impending deprecation of cookies(new window) and cookie-based marketing, companies and brands can start from a clean slate and support more privacy-first tracking alternatives in the metaverse.
We need to be ready
The metaverse is likely the next stage of the internet’s evolution as 3D experiences continue to blur the line between fiction and reality. However, similar to the rise of social media, lawmakers can take a long time to react to new technologies like the metaverse.
Privacy concerns are not the only risks — bigger questions of content moderation(new window), codes of conduct(new window), sustainability(new window), and accessibility(new window) have to be addressed before the metaverse can be a safe and welcoming space for all.
Despite its potential pitfalls, the metaverse promises to offers us new and interactive experiences where we can work, play, and socialize with each other. Its advent offers us another chance to redefine data protection and put privacy and consent at the forefront of our new virtual societies.


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Ad Network Tremor Video Makes Wall Street Debut
In the biggest test yet of Wall Street's interest in video advertising, ad network Tremor Video debuted its initial public offering on Thursday. Priced at a lower-than-expected $10 per share, the stock inched up in early trading after the New York-based company's CEO Bill Day rang the bell to commence trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
In a pre-IPO securities filing updated a few weeks after Tremor filed to go public late last month, the company said it was looking to raise up to $86.3 million with shares expected to be priced between $11.00 and $13.00. Tremor had raised $118.6 million as a private company.
While too early to infer what level of interest the company will maintain from public investors, Tremor may be impacted by a market still sobering up after Facebook's disappointing IPO last year. And a more recent public offering may have further primed Tremor for a cool reception.
Online advertising vendor Marin Software marked the first major ad tech IPO of what's been projected to be a busy year. That company priced its March IPO at $14.00 then opened at $19.00 only to fall in subsequent months, closing yesterday at $10.16.
Like Marin, Tremor was not profitable at the time of its public market debut -- recording a $16.6 million loss last year and a $5.2 million loss in the first quarter of this year, not to mention an accumulated deficit of $86.7 million -- a big red flag. Other tech companies carrying that flag in recent years when it hit Wall Street? Groupon and mobile ad network Millennial Media, which has seen its stock drop by 65% since debuting in March 2012.
In addition to not being profitable, the biggest criticism levied against Tremor has been its inability to keep pace with the market. The company's 2012 revenues grew by 17% year-over-year to reach $105.2 million, but the Interactive Advertising Bureau measured U.S. digital video ad revenues increasing by 28% between 2011 and 2012, and eMarketer estimated U.S. digital video ad spending jumped by 47% in that same span.
However, Tremor's revenue in the first quarter of 2013 accelerated to $24.8 million (including $4.2 million from advertisers who are clients of Tremor board member Laura Desmond's Starcom Mediavest Group). That 43% quarterly revenue rise compared with last year is largely thanks to the company reaping more money from in-stream video ads and pricing those ads based on how viewers interact with the spot, such as whether they watched the full video.
Tremor benefits from having positioned itself as one of the bigger independent businesses in a fledlging market that includes Google's YouTube. Two of its direct competitors, YuMe and Adap.tv are also expected to file later this year.
Tremor runs an ad network that spans more than 500 sites and mobile apps, and profitability may come as more advertisers aim their budgets toward online and mobile videos. EMarketer has projected online video ad spending to grow by 29% into an $8.0 billion business by 2016, and mobile video ad spending is on an even steeper trajectory, forecasted to boom by 71% to hit $2.1 billion in three years.
When Tremor initially filed to go public, its numbers surprised industry executives and investors who worried over how its reception could impact any forthcoming video ad tech IPOs.
"If you're the first out and people say your numbers are shit, it hurts the next guy coming out," said Jay MacDonald, CEO of investment banking boutique Digital Capital Advisors. Mr. MacDonald said the video ad space continues to grow but has tapped much of investors' thirsts. "The next big dollar dump into the category is still around the corner. It's still a good market, but it's not growing as fast as before. And until the connected TV piece comes together it won't."


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The Indian Wedding has now become an industry, which gives a lot of scope for thriving businesses to earn from. Especially the big fat Indian weddings, where people are ready to spend a handsome sum, just to make their few days the most special days in their lives.
Photography is one such field, which has become a thriving business, in a recent era, with over $50 billion wedding market. The Indian bride and grooms have become wackier and have started to experiment their weeding looks to stand out from the general wedding outlooks.
The business changed for better
Luv Isrrani, an Indian celebrity wedding photographer, says that the business of wedding photography has changed for the better. He started working 15 years back and charged Rs.3500 for an entire portfolio shoot. And now his charges have increased to Rs.150000 per day, which sums up to a 4200 percent increase.
The Main Focus
Luv focuses mainly on weddings which involve celebrities. Recent surveys have revealed that more than 20 percent of the female and 11 percent of the male have agreed that they can spend 10 to 20 lakhs on their wedding ceremony that lasts for three to four days. But these are millennials, which are being taken into consideration. Many women have also opted for a low-cost wedding, as they grow older.
However, half the people living in India are millennials, who are under the age of 30. So, Luv focuses on the segment, which brings him handsome money.
Splurge of Indians
At Indian weddings, even the poorest of the lot tend to save the entire life, or borrow a huge amount, just to splurge at weddings. A majority of Indian weddings cost way more than what the person can ideally afford.
But Luv works as a celebrity wedding photographer, which helps him mint money from his work.
Future Plans of Luv Issrani as Photographer
No other wedding photographer earns as much as Luv does. But still, he sees it as a stepping stone, as he wants to become a director. He is planning to do much more than photography.


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Weekly Roundup: Walmart Booms, NVIDIA Busts, Trump Suggests End of Quarterly Earnings Reports
Stocks are turning in a mixed performance today, with major indexes flitting between positive and negative territory all day. The quieter Friday trading comes in the wake of a major surge during yesterday’s session. News this week was once again dominated by international commerce and earnings. Stocks struggled earlier in the week as traders sought to anticipate the banking contagion emanating from the plummet of Turkey’s Lira. Then, news broke that Chinese negotiators have arrived in the United States to resume trade talks with the Trump Administration, providing the fuel for Thursday’s rally. Elsewhere in the news, the US President has instructed the SEC to consider doing away with quarterly earnings reports altogether.
Several prominent earnings reports also did much to set the narrative for the week’s trading. Broadly positive earnings for retailers are offsetting weakness in the chipmaking sectors and papering over concerned with Turkey, where the Lira continues to struggle. With European banks perceived as far more exposed to the Turkish economy, US stocks are posting a growing divergence with European equities.
Walmart (NYSE: WMT)
Even before news of resumed trade talks with China broke, Walmart kicked off Thursday’s rally with an impressive earnings report. The retailer generated its best sales growth in over a decade. In-store sales growth has been focused on apparel and groceries, where Walmart has been making substantial investments. All important e-commerce revenues are expected to be up 40% for 2018—a vital metric in the retailer’s ongoing efforts to compete with Amazon.
After the revenue beat and positive forward guidance, the stock surged almost 10% on the announcement and remains up 6.91% at the time of this writing. Walmart took some one-time losses related to sales of its stake in Walmart Brazil, but investors are much more focused on the overall revenue growth picture. With a major website revamp complete, Walmart is focusing on increasing the presence of major brand on its e-commerce platform, while also focusing on acquiring a share of the growing grocery delivery market.
NVIDIA Earnings Miss (NASDAQ
After the close of trading yesterday, chipmaker NVIDIA disappointed investors with its own earnings report. NVIDIA’s chips are traditionally focused on graphics processing, but cryptocurrency “miners” have adapted them for their own use, driving a huge boom in demand for the chips in recent years. NVIDIA actually posted a revenue Beat on Thursday, boasting a 40% increase in year over year revenue. Forward-looking revenue guidance, however, came in behind investor expectations. With investors increasingly concerned over the future of cryptocurrencies, the lower-than-expected guidance led to a sharp selloff. Analysts have continuing fears regarding the broader chip-making sector, as reported by Bloomberg here.
NVIDIA remains down over 4% at the time of this writing.
We expect the dueling pressures of strong earnings from a still booming US economy and tensions from international markets to continue in the coming weeks. It’s continuing to be a profitable environment for news-based traders.
With the right data, any news event that changes the value of the company is a profit opportunity. If you’d like to learn more about using real-time news analytics and deep historical data (all combined into an easy-to-use platform) to find consistent market-beating profits, we recommend one of our complimentary virtual training seminars. These sessions don’t come with any hard sell, just an up-close look at the proven strategies our users are taking advantage of each and every day. Claim a spot in our next session using the button below to learn how to level the playing field with Wall Street Quants:


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On the morning of April 12, special guests were invited to learn about the B-Lite lightweight breast implants at the London Bridge Plastic Surgery clinic in London.
Aesthetic company Teoxane has announced a new date for its fourth UK Expert Day in association with aesthetic distributor Wigmore Medical.
The first Filorga UK event and official launch took place on April 20 at The King's Fund, in Cavendish Square, London.
Medical device company Lumenis held its Advance Aesthetic Workshop at the Royal Society of Medicine in London on September 13.
EF MEDISPA Edgbaston held its official launch event on the evening of October 12.
Aesthetic device manufacturer 3D-lipo welcomed guests to the official launch of the 3D-lipo flagship clinic in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.
Aesthetics reports on the highlights of the 11th RSM Aesthetics conference
Aesthetic company Teoxane UK invited 250 practitioners to attend the fourth Teoxane Expert Day at The Mere Golf Resort & Spa in Cheshire on November 10.
On September 10 guests were invited to join Vida Skincare celebrate the launch of its vegan skincare range Vida For You at The Terrace in London.
Following a successful event in 2016, pharmaceutical company IBSA Italia organised another anatomy training for the use of hyaluronic acid dermal filler injections in Verona on May 18-19.


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AMI Fully Acquires Soap Opera Digest from Source Interlink Media
The deal emerges out of a licensing agreement in place for the last year.
AMI has taken the next step of fully absorbing Soap Opera Digest by purchasing it from Source Interlink Media. AMI had been essentially running the full operation of the title—from edit to production to advertising and distribution—under a licensing agreement. The deal officially closed last month and terms were not released.
Soap Opera Digest is a weekly with a total circ of about 221,000. AMI had taken over production services of the magazine from Source, along with Soap Opera Weekly, last April in what was supposed to be a four- to five-year agreement.
But that agreement had all the signs of a pending acquisition—Source felt the titles were no longer strategically valuable and AMI saw a fit with their entertainment group.
Soap Opera Weekly and teen celebrity title Pixie, which were also picked up by AMI from Source as part of the licensing deal, did not fare as well. Both brands were shut down last April.


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|By PR Newswire||
|January 4, 2013 08:00 AM EST||
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- M-GO, the people-friendliest, new digital entertainment service, today announced its launch into public beta. M-GO's pay-as-you-go streaming service helps people find, rent, buy and enjoy digital entertainment on the devices they use and choose - TVs, iPads, tablets, Blu-ray players, streaming players, Macs, PCs and soon game consoles and smartphones. Beginning today, consumers in the U.S. can get access to thousands of movies and commercial-free TV shows on M-GO – in standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) – paying only for the movies and TV shows they want without needing to commit to subscription fees.
To make things even easier for consumers, the company has partnered with the world's leading consumer electronics makers for M-GO to be available as a preloaded service on the hottest new smart devices from Intel, Samsung and Vizio – with new partnerships to be brought to market in 2013 with LG Electronics and RCA. To get started, consumers simply need to open a web browser through Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer or Firefox – and type in www.mgo.com. M-GO is also available as a free download from the Google Play Android app store.
M-GO today also debuted a new licensing agreement with Starz Digital further expanding its ever-growing content library. With M-GO, consumers can catch the freshest new movies the same day as the DVD release – including such blockbusters as Dark Knight Rises, The Iron Lady andTed. They can also buy or rent individual episodes or full seasons of hit TV shows like The Walking Dead, Glee, Modern Family and Spartacus as well as choose from a deep catalogue of hidden gems and classic favorites. The company has already landed direct content licensing agreements with the world's leading studios, content creators and distributors including DreamWorks Animation, NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Relativity Media, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution - with additional content deals already in development.
Not just another media store; M-GO is an entertainment service and resource, aimed at becoming consumers' first stop for finding and watching satisfying entertainment content – whether or not they rent or buy from M-GO. With such a robust and constantly expanding library of the newest releases and deep catalogue of hits, the company is confident that it will be able to gratify even the most discerning consumer searches. However, M-GO is so committed to taking the hassle out of getting great digital entertainment quickly and easily, that it is going further - if M-GO doesn't have the content, it will help people find it on other media stores including Amazon, iTunes, Netflix and Vudu. M-GO also enhances viewing and entertainment discovery by providing movie trailers, critic reviews from Rotten Tomatoes, Cast and Crew images, filmographies and more – which provide a rich second-screen experience.
"The unfulfilled promise of 'Entertainment Everywhere' for years has left many wondering if they can get entertainment anywhere. Despite advances in technology and tons of film and TV choices, it still takes more effort than it should to find something satisfying to watch when and how consumers want it," said John Batter, CEO of M-GO. "Consumers have become used to cobbling their entertainment options together in order to get a slightly satisfying experience -- switching from DVRs to subscription services to cable to media stores take time and effort which takes away from the ability to just sit back and enjoy. At M-GO, we believe consumers deserve a better, simpler, easier, more people-friendly experience and we are on a mission to deliver it – think of us as your Entertainment Wingman."
M-GO Takes User-Friendly to a Higher Standard – "People-Friendliest"
At M-GO, being the people-friendliest way to experience entertainment means:
- Unlike other streaming and media stores, M-GO goes further. Beyond delivering spot-on search results and insightful recommendations, M-GO has a stable of entertainment experts to curate the content and help cut through the clutter to get the entertainment that is just right for each person.
- Creating a simplified experience with our E.A.P.TM (Easy As Pie) interface – which groups genres and categories such as "New Releases," "Featured," "M-GO Picks," "Deals," and "Your Library" into a patented visual display giving viewers an easier way to discover great content to watch the same day as the DVD release for many movies or the day after programs air for most network TV shows.
- An "Admin" can create up to five additional profiles per account and the "Watch List" feature so that each member of the household gets tailored recommendations, set spending limits, and their own wish list of movies & TV shows they may want to watch later.
- Paying only for what each individual really wants to watch. M-GO does not lock people into ongoing subscription fees or require them to buy additional hardware.
- M-GO supports multiple digital lockers including UltraViolet, a digital rights authentication and home entertainment industry standard that lets consumers safely and securely download and stream their purchased movies and TV shows via a cloud-based entertainment collection for viewing on TV screens, personal computers, tablets and mobile phones.
- We've-got-your-back customer support. Real people who speak human (not tech or geek speak) available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
M-GO is the people-friendliest, new pay-as-you-go digital entertainment service that makes it easier than ever to browse, rent, buy and enjoy the broadest, newest and best selection of movies and TV shows on your screens. M-GO was created by people who love entertainment for people who love being entertained and is a joint venture between DreamWorks Animation and Technicolor. With both technology and entertainment in the company's DNA, M-GO's mission is to transform the world of digital entertainment on the viewer's terms. M-GO has secured content deals with Hollywood's major studios which drives its always growing library of the newest releases – the earliest it is available at retail - as well as a deep catalogue of hidden gems and classic favorites. M-GO is available on all major platforms and functions on a full spectrum of operating systems ranging from Android to iOS to Windows. M-GO is pre-loaded on Samsung's Smart TV's, Blu-ray players and Wi-Fi tablets, VIZIO's Smart TVs, Blu-ray players, Wi-Fi tablets and digital media players, and Intel® Ultrabook™ devices. M-GO is a free service available at www.mgo.com.
WebRTC has had a real tough three or four years, and so have those working with it. Only a few short years ago, the development world were excited about WebRTC and proclaiming how awesome it was. You might have played with the technology a couple of years ago, only to find the extra infrastructure requirements were painful to implement and poorly documented. This probably left a bitter taste in your mouth, especially when things went wrong.
Sep. 2, 2015 04:00 AM EDT Reads: 482
Akana has announced the availability of the new Akana Healthcare Solution. The API-driven solution helps healthcare organizations accelerate their transition to being secure, digitally interoperable businesses. It leverages the Health Level Seven International Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (HL7 FHIR) standard to enable broader business use of medical data. Akana developed the Healthcare Solution in response to healthcare businesses that want to increase electronic, multi-device access to health records while reducing operating costs and complying with government regulations.
Sep. 2, 2015 04:00 AM EDT Reads: 245
SYS-CON Events announced today that the "Second Containers & Microservices Expo" will take place November 3-5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Containers and microservices have become topics of intense interest throughout the cloud developer and enterprise IT communities.
Sep. 2, 2015 03:30 AM EDT Reads: 607
Through WebRTC, audio and video communications are being embedded more easily than ever into applications, helping carriers, enterprises and independent software vendors deliver greater functionality to their end users. With today’s business world increasingly focused on outcomes, users’ growing calls for ease of use, and businesses craving smarter, tighter integration, what’s the next step in delivering a richer, more immersive experience? That richer, more fully integrated experience comes about through a Communications Platform as a Service which allows for messaging, screen sharing, video...
Sep. 2, 2015 02:00 AM EDT Reads: 698
Too often with compelling new technologies market participants become overly enamored with that attractiveness of the technology and neglect underlying business drivers. This tendency, what some call the “newest shiny object syndrome,” is understandable given that virtually all of us are heavily engaged in technology. But it is also mistaken. Without concrete business cases driving its deployment, IoT, like many other technologies before it, will fade into obscurity.
Sep. 1, 2015 11:45 PM EDT Reads: 400
SYS-CON Events announced today that IceWarp will exhibit at the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. IceWarp, the leader of cloud and on-premise messaging, delivers secured email, chat, documents, conferencing and collaboration to today's mobile workforce, all in one unified interface
Sep. 1, 2015 03:00 PM EDT Reads: 448
In his session at @ThingsExpo, Lee Williams, a producer of the first smartphones and tablets, will talk about how he is now applying his experience in mobile technology to the design and development of the next generation of Environmental and Sustainability Services at ETwater. He will explain how M2M controllers work through wirelessly connected remote controls; and specifically delve into a retrofit option that reverse-engineers control codes of existing conventional controller systems so they don't have to be replaced and are instantly converted to become smart, connected devices.
Sep. 1, 2015 02:45 PM EDT Reads: 180
The Internet of Things is in the early stages of mainstream deployment but it promises to unlock value and rapidly transform how organizations manage, operationalize, and monetize their assets. IoT is a complex structure of hardware, sensors, applications, analytics and devices that need to be able to communicate geographically and across all functions. Once the data is collected from numerous endpoints, the challenge then becomes converting it into actionable insight.
Sep. 1, 2015 01:00 PM EDT
With the proliferation of connected devices underpinning new Internet of Things systems, Brandon Schulz, Director of Luxoft IoT – Retail, will be looking at the transformation of the retail customer experience in brick and mortar stores in his session at @ThingsExpo. Questions he will address include: Will beacons drop to the wayside like QR codes, or be a proximity-based profit driver? How will the customer experience change in stores of all types when everything can be instrumented and analyzed? As an area of investment, how might a retail company move towards an innovation methodolo...
Sep. 1, 2015 12:45 PM EDT Reads: 485
SYS-CON Events announced today that HPM Networks will exhibit at the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. For 20 years, HPM Networks has been integrating technology solutions that solve complex business challenges. HPM Networks has designed solutions for both SMB and enterprise customers throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Sep. 1, 2015 12:30 PM EDT Reads: 926
Consumer IoT applications provide data about the user that just doesn’t exist in traditional PC or mobile web applications. This rich data, or “context,” enables the highly personalized consumer experiences that characterize many consumer IoT apps. This same data is also providing brands with unprecedented insight into how their connected products are being used, while, at the same time, powering highly targeted engagement and marketing opportunities. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Nathan Treloar, President and COO of Bebaio, will explore examples of brands transforming their businesses by t...
Sep. 1, 2015 12:15 PM EDT Reads: 252
SYS-CON Events announced today that Pythian, a global IT services company specializing in helping companies leverage disruptive technologies to optimize revenue-generating systems, has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 17th Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Founded in 1997, Pythian is a global IT services company that helps companies compete by adopting disruptive technologies such as cloud, Big Data, advanced analytics, and DevOps to advance innovation and increase agility. Specializing in designing, imple...
Sep. 1, 2015 11:45 AM EDT Reads: 332
As more and more data is generated from a variety of connected devices, the need to get insights from this data and predict future behavior and trends is increasingly essential for businesses. Real-time stream processing is needed in a variety of different industries such as Manufacturing, Oil and Gas, Automobile, Finance, Online Retail, Smart Grids, and Healthcare. Azure Stream Analytics is a fully managed distributed stream computation service that provides low latency, scalable processing of streaming data in the cloud with an enterprise grade SLA. It features built-in integration with Azur...
Sep. 1, 2015 11:15 AM EDT Reads: 300
SYS-CON Events announced today that Micron Technology, Inc., a global leader in advanced semiconductor systems, will exhibit at the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Micron’s broad portfolio of high-performance memory technologies – including DRAM, NAND and NOR Flash – is the basis for solid state drives, modules, multichip packages and other system solutions. Backed by more than 35 years of technology leadership, Micron's memory solutions enable the world's most innovative computing, consumer,...
Sep. 1, 2015 09:45 AM EDT Reads: 249
Contrary to mainstream media attention, the multiple possibilities of how consumer IoT will transform our everyday lives aren’t the only angle of this headline-gaining trend. There’s a huge opportunity for “industrial IoT” and “Smart Cities” to impact the world in the same capacity – especially during critical situations. For example, a community water dam that needs to release water can leverage embedded critical communications logic to alert the appropriate individuals, on the right device, as soon as they are needed to take action.
Sep. 1, 2015 09:00 AM EDT
SYS-CON Events announced today the Containers & Microservices Bootcamp, being held November 3-4, 2015, in conjunction with 17th Cloud Expo, @ThingsExpo, and @DevOpsSummit at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. This is your chance to get started with the latest technology in the industry. Combined with real-world scenarios and use cases, the Containers and Microservices Bootcamp, led by Janakiram MSV, a Microsoft Regional Director, will include presentations as well as hands-on demos and comprehensive walkthroughs.
Sep. 1, 2015 08:15 AM EDT Reads: 370
While many app developers are comfortable building apps for the smartphone, there is a whole new world out there. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Narayan Sainaney, Co-founder and CTO of Mojio, will discuss how the business case for connected car apps is growing and, with open platform companies having already done the heavy lifting, there really is no barrier to entry.
Sep. 1, 2015 08:00 AM EDT Reads: 182
With the Apple Watch making its way onto wrists all over the world, it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a staple in the workplace. In fact, Forrester reported that 68 percent of technology and business decision-makers characterize wearables as a top priority for 2015. Recognizing their business value early on, FinancialForce.com was the first to bring ERP to wearables, helping streamline communication across front and back office functions. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Kevin Roberts, GM of Platform at FinancialForce.com, will discuss the value of business applications on wearable ...
Sep. 1, 2015 08:00 AM EDT
As more intelligent IoT applications shift into gear, they’re merging into the ever-increasing traffic flow of the Internet. It won’t be long before we experience bottlenecks, as IoT traffic peaks during rush hours. Organizations that are unprepared will find themselves by the side of the road unable to cross back into the fast lane. As billions of new devices begin to communicate and exchange data – will your infrastructure be scalable enough to handle this new interconnected world?
Sep. 1, 2015 08:00 AM EDT Reads: 172
The Internet of Things (IoT) is about the digitization of physical assets including sensors, devices, machines, gateways, and the network. It creates possibilities for significant value creation and new revenue generating business models via data democratization and ubiquitous analytics across IoT networks. The explosion of data in all forms in IoT requires a more robust and broader lens in order to enable smarter timely actions and better outcomes. Business operations become the key driver of IoT applications and projects. Business operations, IT, and data scientists need advanced analytics t...
Aug. 31, 2015 02:30 PM EDT Reads: 435


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Posted by Bethany Frank on 25 May 2016
Check out some of the payments news and financial technology news we've been reading:
The transition to EMV chip cards is only the beginning of a larger migration towards contactless payments.
Via PYMNTS.com: Why It Pays to Be Thick in Mobile Payments
Creating certainty for users and establishing a thick market are the biggest keys to success in mobile payments.
Via TechCrunch: FinTech Doesn't Just Disrupt Banks, It Makes Them Platforms
While they may compete in some areas, partnerships between fintech startups and banks tend to be mutually beneficial.
Via Huffington Post: Five Ways Digital Payments Are Coming to The Rescue in Emergencies
From mobile wallets to crowdfunding, digital payments have enabled faster, safer, and more transparent emergency response work.
Fitness tracking company Fitbit makes its first foray into mobile payments with the acquisition of a wearable payments platform from Coin.


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Snapchat’s creator charm offensive stops short of ad revenue sharing
Snapchat wants better relationships with creators on its platform, but it is so far resisting the short-term step of cutting creators in on ad revenue.
Snap in June at VidCon teased that it was experimenting with sharing ad revenue with creators, but that program has been limited to a select few individuals who have signed exclusive content deals with the platform. That includes Snapchat Shows like FuckJerry or Publisher Stories like Daquan. Yet for creators who aren’t contracted, Snapchat remains open to them participating in branded content deals but unwilling to introduce more ad revenue share.
For now, Snapchat has opted to treat a select group of creators more as publishing partners rather than ad inventory, something that transpired after nearly five years of Snapchat being reluctant to embrace its creator community. Only a select few — like YouTuber Patrick Starrr with his new Snapchat Show, announced at VidCon — can get a share of Snap’s ad revenue and both Snapchat and the creators are invested in the series’ overall success. Meanwhile, YouTube is often criticized by its community for not being committed to an individual’s success. Creators find themselves forced to change their styles, such as the length of a video, to win the favor of the YouTube algorithm.
Snap has side-stepped that constant backlash by slowly adding features that aren’t reliant on pre-roll or mid-roll ads.
“For me, as a creator who has monetized my channel for the past four years with little involvement from Snapchat themselves, I think the steps Snap is taking are great and an added bonus. My continued creativity on Snapchat isn’t dependent on it,” said Cyrene Quiamco, a creator who has invested the majority of her time in producing on Snapchat.
Snap’s team has been invested in building other money-making opportunities. For example, Snapchat has introduced native commerce, where celebrities like Kylie Jenner has sold her beauty products and Nicki Minaj has used shoppable AR. Snapchat isn’t yet taking a cut of that revenue.
Now, Snapchat is extending the in-app commerce feature to more of its community. Quiamco said on Aug. 21 she was working with Snap’s team to set up her own store, where she plans to sell her book.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel admitted to the “neglect” of its creator community during the company’s third-quarter earnings call in 2017. Over this past year, creators have become one of the company’s core initiatives, and that has materialized several big launches this summer. In May, Snap hosted its first-ever Creators Summit, where executives met with 13 Snapchat users to discuss how they could better work together. Some programs came directly out of that two-day event, including Snapchat Storytellers, where the app pairs creators with advertisers.
“Snapchat, I feel, has really stepped up in creating a real relationship with its creators this year. From the summit that flew 13 creators worldwide, promoting our branded stickers, giving us ad credits to boost our stories, direct support and an open door for ideas and suggestions, and the latest is the Storytellers program,” said Quiamco, who is one of the five Snapchat creators involved in the launch of Storytellers.
Quiamco said the Storytellers program has allowed her to feel comfortable with committing the majority of her time to create on Snapchat. No deals have been signed yet, she said, but brands contacted her over the last month for some opportunities.
YouTube has been writing checks to its top creators to serve as ambassadors for its new features, Bloomberg reported last week. That’s in addition to YouTube’s core business of sharing ad revenue with its creators after they reach a certain level of subscribers to their channels, as long as they abide by the platform’s community standards.
While Snapchat may be fighting for user attention from YouTube, it has yet to introduce more transactional deal-making that arguably could inspire more loyalty from so-called influencers. That resistance comes despite past calls from popular creators like Hank Green.
Snapchat's inability to inspire creator loyalty reminds me that PLATFORMS SHOULD SHARE REVENUE.
— Hank Green (@hankgreen) July 15, 2017
But Snap’s resistance comes with benefits. The absence of a self-serve revenue sharing program allows Snapchat to avoid some scrutiny. YouTube creators, who are eligible for ad revenue share, are constantly calling out the platform for transparency issues. Philip DeFranco, popular for his news commentary on YouTube, is currently testing whether or not his videos about sensitive topics are being suppressed, for example. Meanwhile, the success of a creator on Snapchat is less at the whim of an algorithm.
‘Doubling down’: Inside the 49ers social and digital rush to replace lost in-stadium marketing dollars
Without the ability to deliver ads to the 70,000 fans who attend games in-person, the 49ers have had to pivot to focus on digital and social channels.
Member Exclusive‘Can’t really be ignored’: Marketers and media buyers are finally taking the on-going TikTok saga seriously
Marketers and media buyers have said that as long as people are still on TikTok they’ll want to be there, especially as they try to diversify from Facebook and Google.
‘Clever about how we rest’: As uncertainties drag into fall, agencies are facing a burnt out and fearful workforce
Agency employees and executives say that a feeling of fatigue due to the on-going uncertainty and the need to be always on has set in.
SponsoredB2B events were broken before the pandemic, their online reinvention is creating positive change
Kim Darling, executive producer, Inbound Farewell lanyards, business cards and branded pens — it’ll be some time before people get their hands on these souvenirs of in-person events again. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to transform the way people work, buy, sell, socialize and entertain themselves, the global events industry is facing its biggest-ever challenge. […]
‘A credible voice’: Why Honda is doubling down on esports
Honda has struck deals with Riot Games, pro esports team Team Liquid and Twitch as it looks to maintain its appeal among first-time car buyers.
Member Exclusive‘2020 has been the year of contingency plans’: The new norms of marketing
Six months into a paradigm shift in marketing due to on-going crises, marketing leaders say that many of the coping changes put in place are here to stay.


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Although it’s just a construction site right now, the southwest corner of Toronto’s Queen Street West and Portland Street holds great promise for fans of fast fashion. That’s because here, on the edge of one of Canada’s busiest shopping strips, and just a few blocks from H&M, Urban Outfitters and American Apparel, Joe Fresh plans next year to swing open the doors of a shiny new 8,000-sq.-foot store. Loblaws’ cheap ’n’ cheerful clothing line has been in the fashion war for a few years, but this is the first time it has decided to do battle on its competitors’ turf.
For the most part, the brand, which is available across Canada in more than 340 Real Canadian Superstores and Loblaws stores, has gone after a slice of Canada’s $19-billion apparel market from the friendly—and some would say unlikely—confines of suburban grocery stores. And though a Loblaws will occupy the second floor of the future condo tower at Queen and Portland (a Winners will take the third floor), Joe Fresh’s simple yet stylish basics will be responsible for catching the eyes of shoppers at street level. This is, arguably, the biggest test of the brand since it launched in 2006. But retail experts think it’s up for the challenge. “They’re really poised for some explosive growth,” says David Ian Gray, principal of Vancouver-based DIG360 Consulting. “I have clients, in specialty chain retail, that are concerned about them.”
By last summer, Joe Fresh, the brainchild of Joseph Mimran, co-founder of Club Monaco, had already become Canada’s second-largest clothing label, according to market research. And despite the recent downturn, the brand is still aiming to hit its rather ambitious $1-billion all-time sales target. Thanks to low-priced items like $29 skinny jeans and $59 down jackets, the tough times have been a boon for the bottom line. “It’s brought us new customers who may have been more skeptical at the beginning,” says Elizabeth Margles, a vice-president of marketing with Loblaw Companies Ltd. “It gave them a reason to try us. And once they try us, they keep coming back.”
Since its inception, Joe Fresh has been a smash hit with suburban soccer moms. But experts have been a little surprised by how many young urbanites, regulars at Holt Renfrew and other high-priced boutiques, are willing to snap up $29 cable-knit sweaters and $49 skirts without the slightest hint of shame. Many, in fact, openly boast to friends about their great finds. “It’s not so much the quality, it’s more the fit and the style that has really surprised them,” says Gray. “They expected a lot less for what they’re paying.” Or maybe the real appeal is buying clothes at Wal-Mart prices in a store that’s somehow managed to create a trendy image.
Runway shows during Toronto Fashion Week have helped bolster the brand’s appeal with twenty- and thirtysomething professionals. Last October’s show was one of the hottest tickets in town, with many of the city’s biggest names in attendance, including Raptor superstar Chris Bosh and celebrity chef Susur Lee. And there’s nothing down-market about its ad campaigns. In fact, Joe Fresh features Lisa Cant, a Canadian supermodel who has appeared in campaigns for Chanel, D&G and Versace, as the face of its cosmetics line. “We had a built-in barrier originally—‘Oh, will I put lettuce in the same cart that I’m going to put a silk blouse?’ ” says Margles. “In order for us to overcome that right out of the gate we really had to establish ourselves as a fashion brand—we needed to give a reason for people to take that leap of faith with us.”
Though uncommon in North America, the mixing of food and fashion has proven to be a successful retail combination in Europe and the United Kingdom. The competitive advantage of this set-up for the clothing brand, of course, is the built-in foot traffic a grocery store affords. By one estimate, Canadians go to grocery stores 1.8 times a week, but only visit a mall about once a month. Margles says 12 million people walk through a Loblaws every week. And though she refuses to divulge any specifics, she says this “point of differentiation” is paying off. “We’ve done the research,” she says. “We know that we’ve converted customers from other grocery stores because of Joe Fresh.”
So why haven’t there been copycats? For one thing, the food at Loblaws, due largely to the company’s private labels, “is more fashionable” than many of its competitors, says Maureen Atkinson, a senior partner with Toronto-based J.C. Williams Group. This helped make the somewhat odd pairing of food and fashion more palatable. Of course, there’s also the fact there aren’t all that many Joe Mimrans to go around.
As creative director, Mimran doesn’t sketch every blouse and sweater that makes its way onto the rack. He has a team of more than 150 product developers, trend forecasters, managers and designers. But Mimran has “his hand on every design,” says Margles. In the unlikely event he needs a second opinion, he has plenty of fashion sense at home. His wife, Kimberley Newport-Mimran, is the creative genius behind Pink Tartan, the popular high-end women’s label. Meanwhile, his older brother Saul’s company—Mimran Group Inc.—produces Pure, the Alfred Sung-designed clothing line at Zellers. Fashion is in their blood: their mother Esther was a tailor in Morocco. And in the late ’70s, she and Saul opened Ms. Originals, a dressmaking business in Toronto.
Joe’s big splash came in the mid-’80s, when he launched Club Monaco with Saul and Sung. The business had grown to 125 stores and had gone public when, in 1999, Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. bought it—as well as Caban, Mimran’s home-furnishing chain—for $79 million. Mimran stayed on as chairman, president and CEO. But about 18 months later, after sales slipped, he was fired.
Following that setback, he started Joseph Mimran & Associates in 2001. He became the creative director of Loblaws’ President’s Choice Home collection and designed a private label for Holt Renfrew. So when the Weston family, which owns Holt Renfrew and a majority stake in Loblaw, was looking for a fashion fix to combat Wal-Mart’s aggressive move into grocery a few years ago, they didn’t need to look very far.
In the last 16 months, to better position itself against the other cheap-chic labels, Joe Fresh has added cosmetics, jewellery, bags and shoes to its line. And just before the holidays, it launched bath products—including body washes and moisturizers. When asked about further expansion plans, Margles says much of the focus in the next year will be expanding existing departments in Loblaws stores. Stand-alone locations in malls, without a link to a Loblaws, are not part of the game plan right now. And Margles dismisses talk of U.S. expansion. The American apparel market is worth nearly US$190 billion and the recession has hit the U.S. harder, making consumers there more likely to give fast fashion a shot. But Loblaws doesn’t have any operations in the U.S. And, she says, there’s still a lot of potential in Canada. In 2009, Joe Fresh was added to 43 stores. And though the line is sold in every Superstore already, this is a company with 1,100 stores in total.
Analysts agree that a stay-at-home strategy is probably best—for now. “Until you exhaust the existing model,” says Atkinson, “you don’t want to get too scattered.” And though Gray thinks the U.S. may provide a good testing ground for stand-alone stores at some point, that time isn’t now. “Historically, Canadian retailers put a tentative foot in the States and get their toes cut off,” says Gray. “When you go into the States, you have to go in a big way. They need a little bit more experience nailing the growth curve they’re on.”
A smaller step, like heading into the highly competitive Queen Street West fashion fray, is more logical. For the company, making Joe Fresh the face of a new Loblaws store has been a question of timing—it believes it has achieved the required brand awareness. And though Wal-Mart was the initial trigger for the brand’s launch, Margles identifies H&M and Zara as two of Joe Fresh’s main competitors. “We always knew,” she says, “that we had the product to go head-to-head with them.” Soon they’ll get to try and prove it.


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I love the smell of exaggeration in the morning. (Illustration: Fortune.)
With a rising stock price, cheery forecasts from major analysts and growing anticipation for iPhone 6 and iWatch, it’s getting harder and harder to write negative articles about Apple’s prospects.
But, naturally, some people do.
Surprisingly, it was Adam Lashinsky who recently rose to the challenge with his article for Fortune entitled Apple’s newest product: Complexity.
Compelling headline. Compelling visual. The only thing it lacks is a compelling argument.
In fact, it’s an excellent example of how even the smarter Apple journalists can be seduced by the lure of Apple doom-casting. More ▸
We all know that things are different in the post-Steve Apple.
However, there’s something about the current move to build an in-house marketing agency that’s really, really different.
Unlike previous changes, this one isn’t driven by Tim Cook.
It comes from a new place, deeper inside the company — from those who long played a part in Steve Jobs’ marketing machine.
The industry and the press seem to be surprised by this development. To many others, it’s a wonder it didn’t happen sooner.
A little background to start with…
THE BENEVOLENT DICTATOR
Though Steve encouraged debate, his dictator side made it clear that some things were not debatable. One of those things was the way Apple handled its marketing.
He set up two distinct areas of responsibility. More ▸
Apple’s rock-solid sales threatened by Android’s slowing sales!(Reality Distortion Field courtesy of Business Insider)
In times gone by, I’d get a kick out of watching any local band play live.
If they were good, I loved it. If they were bad, well — I also loved it. It was strangely entertaining to watch a group try so hard and sound so terrible.
In much the same way, I got a kick out of a Business Insider article over the weekend with the catchy headline The iPhone 6 Had Better Be Amazing And Cheap, Because Apple Is Losing The War To Android.
I hope you enjoy bad bands too.
Kudos to the Business Insider editor, who, in the site’s well-established tradition, has molded a headline that’s simultaneously brain-dead and inflammatory.
Singing lead is writer Jim Edwards. Do watch closely, because Jim is the guy who will give you the most bang for your entertainment buck.
A few bits of his insight and logic: More ▸
The latest numbers show that in 2013, Apple rose to #2 in online retail, second only to Amazon.
Not all that amazing, given that iTunes and App Store sales are now included in Apple’s figures.
But, given the humble beginnings of the Apple Store, it does give me that “how far we’ve come” feeling.
It all started with a baby step back in the “Think different” years, even before the first iMac appeared.
In those days, Apple made its big announcements with multipage inserts in magazines like Time and Newsweek. Apple creating an online store was indeed big news — though not quite big enough to merit its own insert.
The piece you see here was titled “Think different. Really different.” Within its pages, Apple announced three bits of news: More ▸
Of all the product names in Apple history, by far the least surprising was iPhone.
After iMac, iPhoto, iMovie, iPod and iTunes, Apple had well established its i-rhythm. And the fact that Apple was feverishly working on a phone was one of its worst-kept secrets. For many months leading up to the device’s unveiling, the press was consumed with speculation about what an “iPhone” would be.
Behind the scenes, Steve Jobs was unwavering in his desire to call it iPhone. The fact that it fit well with other i-names was only part of it. In this case, he thought it was important for the name to instantly communicate the category to be disrupted.
Just one flaw in Steve’s plan: Cisco reportedly owned the name. It was already shipping a product called iPhone, though I’ve yet to meet or even hear of anyone who has ever seen one. It was a phone that made phone calls over the Internet, hooking into one’s home network. More ▸
John Sculley isn’t exactly a favorite amongst Apple fans. He will forever be the man who sent Steve Jobs into exile.
Given the astronomical success of Apple following Steve’s return in 1997, it’s understandable why Sculley would say it was a “mistake” to send Steve packing. He’s said it before and he just said it again.
Get over it, John.
You may have blundered through that particular period of time, but in a weird way you can actually take credit for Apple’s — and Steve Jobs’ — great success.
Because of you, a young, passionate and inexperienced Steve matured in a way he wouldn’t have otherwise.
Being cast out of Apple was what forced Steve to reassess his life. It was during those years of exile that he matured, learning the skills he was lacking in 1985. More ▸
CNN isn’t in the comedy business. At least not purposefully.
But I have to say, yesterday’s CNN home page headline did make me laugh.
After all this coverage of the missing Malaysian airliner, with pretty much every story in the last four weeks centered on the need to find the black boxes, CNN posted a big, bold headline:
Official: Black boxes crucial to solving mystery
With insightful reporting like this, CNN should be back on the top of the ratings in no time.
Big thanks to Sorin for contributing the following photo. Apparently CNN’s headline writer moonlights in the captioning dept.
Phil – and his email – get their day in court
Corporate legal dramas often serve as a reminder to one of the new cardinal rules of business:
Watch what you say in email.
I suspect there are a few people at Apple and its ad agency TBWA\Chiat\Day who wish they could take their messages back, now that Samsung’s lawyers have introduced them as evidence.
One email from Phil Schiller to Tim Cook says that Apple “may need to start a search for a new agency … we are not getting what we need from [Chiat] and haven’t been for a while.”
Tim’s reply: “If we need to do this, we should get going.”
This all happened in 2013, so who knows if it’s blown over by now. But given Steve Jobs’ long-running relationship with Chiat, this potentially represents a huge break from the past.
A little perspective is in order. More ▸
Before iPhone, there was another tool Steve Jobs used to great effect.
It’s always fun to read stories about people’s chance encounters with Steve Jobs.
A recent one came from an anonymous person who “had a friend” who had such an encounter.
Okay, it does sound a bit suspicious. We all know there’s a lot of fantasy out there. However, I find this story to be perfectly plausible — mainly because it’s quite consistent with the everyday Steve behavior I witnessed myself.
As this story goes, the “friend” — who worked for a talent agency — hung up on Steve Jobs twice because he thought he was being pranked. But in fact it was Steve, calling to force a change in Justin Long’s schedule so he could shoot some new Mac vs. PC ads.
That simple phone call (or several calls, in this case) illuminates a side of Steve that most people don’t think about. That is: he cared. More ▸


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|This image provided by The Hershey Company shows the company's old and new corporate logos. On Friday, Aug. 29, 2014, the candy maker announced a new design, which adds a Kisses chocolate at the end of the company’s name. (AP Photo/The Hershey Company)|
HERSHEY, Pa. (AP) — The Hershey Company is rolling out a new corporate logo that features a freshly stylized version of one of its most famous chocolate products.
The candy maker on Friday announced the new design, which adds a new version of the Kisses chocolate at the end of the company's name.
It's part of what the company calls a "disciplined identity system" designed to provide more consistency.
Ron Burrage, the company's senior global design director, says the goal is to help people "clearly identify, this is from The Hershey Company."
For its products, the only change will be on the back of packaging where the company's name is printed.
Based in central Pennsylvania, The Hershey Company has about 13,000 employees and generates more than $7 billion in annual sales.


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Bureau encourages re-think of food truck regulations
Restricting the ability of food trucks to compete in the food service industry can reduce consumer choice and stifle innovation.
July 18, 2017 – OTTAWA, ON – Competition Bureau
While an influx of tourists make Canada their number one destination this year as part of the country’s 150th birthday celebration, the Competition Bureau is calling on municipalities across the country to give both hungry travellers and locals the convenience to choose mobile food services when they eat out.
In its latest issue of the Competition Advocate, titled “Promoting Fair Competition in the Restaurant and Mobile Food Industry,” the Bureau highlights the benefits of the removal of barriers to operate food trucks and other mobile food services, which increases competition, innovation and consumer choice. These include: attracting new customers; improved street vitality and community safety; development of pedestrian-friendly environments; greater neighbourhood interaction; affordable and convenient food options; and increased employment opportunities.
The publication highlights the large amount of variation seen in the regulation of mobile food services across Canada, which in some cases may disproportionately impact the ability of food trucks to compete with “bricks-and-mortar” restaurants. It offers municipalities emerging best practices to guide regulatory reform:
Repeal or reduce proximity requirements;
Limit where mobile food providers can operate only when necessary to achieve legitimate policy objectives;
Let the market choose economic winners; and
- Avoid overly restrictive operating hours that inhibit the ability of mobile food providers to operate during peak dining hours.
Mobile food services and restaurants are two differentiated business models that require different levels of investment and offer different levels of service.
More than 2,200 mobile food services operators in Canada are expected to earn more than $300 million in revenue in 2017.
With low start-up costs, the mobile food service industry encourages innovation by, and is accessible to, middle-class entrepreneurs, new Canadians and aspiring chefs.
Fees currently imposed by some municipalities to operate mobile food services are up to $500 per hour.
The growth of food trucks in Toronto went up from 14 in 2015 to 56 in 2016 by reducing requirements placed on operators. In Vancouver, in 2010, where regulations have been relaxed, the growth of mobile food went up from 17 to over 100 vendors.
For media enquiries, please contact:
For general enquiries, please contact:
Toll free: 1-800-348-5358
TTY (hearing impaired): 1-866-694-8389
The Competition Bureau, as an independent law enforcement agency, ensures that Canadian businesses and consumers prosper in a competitive and innovative marketplace.
- Date modified:


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Danatec Educational Services passes the test – and then some
The company has found a way to make chemical safety training fun
by Melissa Manzone
Danatec Educational Services
#33 on the Fast Growth 50
Head office: Calgary
Industry: Wholesale & Retail Trade
2011 gross annual sales: $4,867,527
2010 gross annual sales: $3,833,079
Photograph Shaun Robinson
They say you shouldn’t mix business with pleasure, but don’t tell that to the people at Danatec Educational Services, a company that offers occupational health and safety training products. After all, their business is built around one simple goal: to make learning fun.
That’s a particularly challenging objective, given that they’re helping to educate people on a subject that many find less than riveting. So how does Danatec make chemical safety training fun? With interactive course materials that keep students engaged.
“We’re very technology-driven and we talk a lot about where the future of the business is going,” says Danatec CEO Alina Martin. Danatec’s own future couldn’t look much rosier. Since taking over as CEO in 2007, Martin has seen Danatec’s revenue increase by 50 per cent. The company’s e-learning business, which was created in 1999, broke the $1-million mark in sales in 2009, and has more than doubled since. With the release of five hazard communication products for the American market and a Danatec USA branch to follow, there’s still plenty of growth to come.
Danatec is a family affair, too. The late Ronald Martin purchased 50 per cent of Danatec (which was founded in 1985) from an acquaintance in 1991 after he was laid off from Greyhound Lines. “He cashed in his retirement and took a leap of faith,” Martin says of her father. Four years later, he tested chance again and bought the remainder of the company. In its early years, Danatec printed handbooks and training materials for companies that needed to meet federal regulations on the transportation of dangerous goods. Since then, the company’s expertise has grown to include radioactive dangerous goods training, lift truck safety training and a certification program on Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS). And while its two primary product lines on WHMIS and the transportation of dangerous goods have received nine national and international awards since 2007, the company remains determined to stay an industry leader. That’s why Martin and the rest of the company constantly reassess the business model to build training materials that are easier to use, more accessible and more reasonably priced than previous products. “I’m not interested in following anybody,” Martin says.
“I’m only interested in leading. We’re building some really cool stuff which will give our competitors a run for their money.”
Competing companies will have to sprint to catch up. In 2010, DanatecTV and training products for were added to the company’s mix. A year later, Danatec became the first company to launch mobile apps on WHMIS and dangerous-goods transportation, and the thousands of downloads they received exceeded expectations. But despite the company’s success, Martin remains modest. “Every day you think the phone isn’t going to ring. Growth is hard. It’s about building layers and not being afraid to fail a bit.”
Martin didn’t always aspire to take over her father’s company. After a startup she helped build went under, she joined Danatec to gain experience. Things didn’t go smoothly, so she ended up leaving a year later. “I had a bit of an entitlement attitude,” she says. “Because I had been running my own show, I had a ‘you are doing this wrong, my idea is right’ attitude; I disrupted the chemistry of the place.” A few months later Martin returned to Danatec, but this time she approached the company humbled and ready to learn the business. “And then something funny happened,” she says. “I fell in love with Danatec.”
Under her leadership, Danatec has experienced the fastest growth in its 28-year history. And of all the awards the company has received– including landing 483rd on Profit magazine’s list of Canada’s 500 fastest-growing companies– Martin says that placing on Alberta Venture’s Fast Growth 50 means the most. She received the news the same week her father passed away in November of last year. “It was one of the only things I got to tell him before he died.”


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Australian social media users have shared claims that French President Emmanuel Macron is banning unvaccinated people from purchasing food at supermarkets from August.
The post features an image of Mr Macron with the caption: “French President announces that from August 1, 2021 people won’t be allowed to PURCHSE (sic) FOOD at supermarkets unless they are vaccinated!”
French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans on July 12 to combat the rise in Delta variant cases of COVID-19, including the introduction of a “health pass” as a requirement to access many facilities.
However, the passport is not available only to the vaccinated, nor is there any evidence that it will be used to bar people from shopping in supermarkets.
As of August, all visitors to restaurants, cafes, shopping centres, hospitals or bars in the country will have to show a COVID-19 “pass sanitaire” – or health pass. The pass will provide proof that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, has recently had a negative coronavirus test or has recovered from the virus within the past six months.
Mr Macron set out the plan in an address, during which he said vaccination would not be mandatory but the health pass was being extended in order to drive as many people to become vaccinated as possible.
He went on to say only the vaccinated and those who had tested negative to the virus would be able to access places such as cafes, restaurants, shopping centres, hospitals and long-distance transport.
The announcement, which has been described as one of the world’s most strict pandemic edicts, resulted in a reported rush for vaccines, with nearly one million people booking online in the first day after Mr Macron’s announcement.
According to reports, French Health Minister Olivier Véran later clarified the rules surrounding grocery shopping: “We are talking about (asking for health passes in) big shopping centres … not supermarkets.”
The country’s finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, also confirmed in an interview that the restrictions would only apply to the largest shopping centres, those with an area greater than 20,000sq m.
Dominique Schelcher, president of the French retailers co-operative Système U, which includes several hundred independent supermarkets, tweeted regarding the health pass that only major shopping centres would be affected and that “the small supermarket of your daily life is not concerned” (translated from French).
There have been large-scale protests throughout France about the health pass since Mr Macron’s address, while the measure has also been reportedly used to fuel various COVID-19-related conspiracy theories.
The image of Macron’s speech in the Facebook meme identifies that it was received from Azazel News (Aries), a channel on the encrypted messaging platform Telegram that frequently shares unsubstantiated and conspiratorial material.
France’s health pass system does not include a ban on the unvaccinated buying food at supermarkets, as claimed in the post. While restrictions apply to venues such as large shopping centres, the country’s health minister said the passes would not apply for supermarkets.
In addition, the health passes are not available exclusively to the vaccinated. People with a recent negative COVID-19 test or who have recovered from the virus are also eligible for the pass.
False – Content that has no basis in fact.


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Consumer confidence is still far below the record highs set under the Trump administration, and a new report by the Conference Board warns ongoing consumer doldrums about the future could spell future recession.
The latest report released Tuesday by the Conference Board, a non-profit research organization funded by more than 1,000 corporations, found consumer confidence improved slightly in September for the second consecutive month due to jobs, wages and declining gas prices, but that “recession risks nonetheless persist” due to a sluggish uptick in the Expectations Index.
The report also found consumers were mixed about their short-term financial prospects, with 18.4% of consumers expecting their incomes to increase, up from 16.6% but conversely, 14.3% expecting their incomes to decrease, up from 13.9%. Just 20.8% of consumers said business conditions were “good,” up slightly from 19.0%., while 21.2% of consumers said business conditions were “bad,” down slightly from 22.6%.
Consumer sentiment was sailing along record highs under the Trump administration, but now this latest Expectations Index still has us in recession territory. So despite spending trillions of dollars in stimulus cash and programs and passing trillions more, the Biden administration has almost nothing to show for it, except the fact that now nearly 70% of Americans are looking for extra work to combat inflation.
President Joe Biden also reportedly might sign into law money in the proposed CR congressional spending package to help households afford winter heating. Talk about doublespeak. On the one hand, Democrats rammed through the largest green energy spending in American history and now they want more taxpayer dollars to subsidize carbon-based winter fuel because prices spiked due to their failed policies. What a scam!
It’s no wonder then that new economic numbers from The Heritage Foundation show the average American has lost the equivalent of $4,200 in annual income under the Biden administration due to the ravages of record-high inflation and higher interest rates. Heritage noted that consumer prices have risen 12.7% since January 2021, far faster than wages, which translates to the average American worker losing $3,000 in annual purchasing power.
Further, as the Federal Reserve implements tighter monetary policy to reduce inflation, interest rates are rising. Higher rates have in turn increased borrowing costs on mortgages, vehicle loans, credit cards and more. The higher interest rates and borrowing costs have effectively reduced the average American’s purchasing power another $1,200 on an annualized basis.
They say the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over again. Let’s hope that in November, voters realize there are specific policies that created this economic mess, and there are specific ways to get out of it proposed — ways by folks like the House GOP team.
Carrie Sheffield is a senior policy analyst at Independent Women’s Voice.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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China is taking an incredible leap ahead to develop a central financial institution digital foreign money, with greater than 80 patents filed by the Individuals’s Financial institution final week.
The 84 patents filed on Feb. 13 embrace proposals associated to the provision and issuance of a central financial institution digital currencies (CBDC) in addition to interbank settlements utilizing the digital yuan and the combination of digital foreign money wallets into present retail financial institution accounts, in line with a latest report by the Monetary Instances.
Whereas the Chinese language authorities continues to be largely quiet on the initiative, the brand new patents signify China’s efforts to ramp up improvement work on its digital foreign money digital fee (DCEP) system in a bid to outdo different main economies such the U.S. and the EU.
The most recent developments are unlikely to affect crypto property within the long-term, because the issuance of a digital yuan can be tightly managed with no public mining or buying and selling with present cryptos, mentioned eToro analyst Nemo Qin.
“In contrast to most crypto property, the DCEP will probably be a centralized, government-issued digital foreign money … with these components, the DCEP shouldn’t have a direct affect on the crypto asset market,” Qin mentioned.
The worth of crypto’s largest asset, bitcoin (BTC), rose greater than 40 p.c, from $7,435 to $10,350 in October, 2019 after Chinese language President Xi Jinping said that his nation ought to “seize the alternatives” afforded by way of blockchain expertise.
Because the markets digested the information and commenced to grasp the intentions behind China’s transfer, costs for the bellwether crypto dropped by greater than 37 p.c earlier than recovering by January of this yr.
Certainly, China’s ambitions have inspired extra gamers to enter the house, with the Financial institution for Worldwide Settlements (BiS) organising a gaggle to debate potential circumstances for interoperable CBDC’s.
“We are able to anticipate extra central banks to announce developments in their very own crypto property utilizing blockchain expertise,” Qin added.
Disclosure Learn Extra
The chief in blockchain information, Fintech Zoom is a media outlet that strives for the very best journalistic requirements and abides by a strict set of editorial insurance policies. Fintech Zoom is an unbiased working subsidiary of Digital Forex Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.